Celtics' Rivers Impressed by Durant

Originally Published: Apr 1, 2010 2:49 PM CDT

Bobby Lewis
Oklahoma Sports Mobile Journalist

OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma – One night after watching Kevin Durant torch his Celtics on their home floor for 37 points in a 109-104 Thunder win, Boston head coach Doc Rivers praised Oklahoma City’s young star on ESPN Radio.

“There may not be a more difficult guy in the league (to defend) because of his size,” Rivers said Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday’s performance was the 17th time this season that Durant scored 35 or more points in a game. That tally is good enough for second in the league, behind LeBron James’ 20. The duo is tied for the league lead in scoring, at 29.7 points per game.

Rivers went on to say that if were to pick players to start a franchise from scratch, he would pick Durant fourth after James, Orlando’s Dwight Howard because of his size and strength, and Utah’s Deron Williams because of his point guard skills.

Rivers added that he wouldn’t take Lakers guard Kobe Bryant ahead of the other four he named because of Bryant’s age. He said he would opt for youth over experience in that situation.

The Thunder visits Dallas on Saturday night. That game could be a sneak preview of a potential first round playoff matchup. Currently the Mavericks sit just a half game up on Utah for the second seed in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City is a half game ahead of Portland in the sixth postseason slot.